Future Growth
Under the auspices of Dean Eric J. Barron, the Jackson School is set to embark on
ambitious plans for new growth.
The process began with the Jackson School Vision
Committee, a group of national geoscience leaders commissioned to offer
suggestions for the school. The committee recommended separation from the
College of Natural Sciences under the leadership of a Jackson School dean. The
new dean should reorganize “the school to integrate effectively the academic and
research functions” and realize the promise of the Jackson gift.
The committee
stated that one imperative was hiring new faculty who could work across the
school’s units. Hires in 2005 and 2006 have started to realize this vision. Charles Kerans, a distinguished researcher at the Bureau, is now a chaired professor in
the Department of Geological Sciences. Charles Groat, former director of USGS,
was hired as a chaired professor in the Department and head of two
interdisciplinary research units. Omar Ghattas, a renowned computational
geoscientist, was hired with a chair in the Department, a research professorship
in the Institute, and appointments to three other campus units. The Bureau and
Institute are also aggressively hiring new researchers.
While exciting, these
hires are just the start of a major enterprise awaiting the next dean.
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